Published Paper Details:

Background: Tobacco is derived from the leaves of the genus Nicotiana tabacum, a plant from the night-shade family, indigenous to North and South America, widely cultivated and commercially grown in many countries of the world, the most prominent Phytochemical found in tobacco. Archaeological studies suggest, the use of tobacco in around first century BC, when Maya people of Central America used tobacco leaves for smoking, in sacred and religious ceremonies. It then later started spreading as far as high up to the Mississippi Valley with the Maya community migrating from down south of America, between 470 and 630 AD. Gradually, it was then adopted by neighboring and native tribes.Objectives:1. To identify the rate of tobacco consumption in any form among women of Raigad District. 2. To identify the physical and physiological health problems among women. 3. To identify the psychosocial health problems among women. 4. To find out the association between health problems and selected demographic variables Hypothesis: H0- There will be no significant relation between tobacco consumption with the health problems among women from selected area of Raigad, district. H01- There will be no significant association between tobacco consumption in women with selected demographic variables. Methodology: The research design consisted of non- experimental, quantitative research approach. Descriptive research design survey method was used in the study. The population selected for the study was women from selected area of Raigad, district. The study samples were 120 women from Raigad district. In this study, non-probability purposive sampling technique was used for the study. The development of the tool involved steps of test construction i.e. preparing the blue print, selection of items, content validation and establishment of reliability. The content validity of the questionnaire was done and modifications were done according to the suggestions given by the experts. Pre-testing and reliability of the tools were done. The reliability coefficient of the cramp score was found to be 0.893.The tool was found to be reliable. Results: The study found that 36% of women consumed smokeless tobacco (Mishri), with 50% using it for 4-10 years and 60% consuming it 3-5 times daily; 73% used tobacco soon after waking, and most reported no co-morbidities. Among those with health issues, 21% had hypertension, while smaller percentages had angina, myocardial infarction, stroke, asthma, or osteoarthritis, and 60% had not received medical care in the past six months. Most participants had normal vital signs, including pulse, respiration, blood pressure, and SpO? levels. However, oral health problems were common, with 79% having dental caries, 68% halitosis, 34% stained teeth, and lesions on the hard (28%) and soft palate (37%); pallor of lips (54%), gums (18%), and nails (28%) was also observed. A small proportion had pitting (8%) or non-pitting edema (7%). Regarding psychological health, 49% felt nervous or anxious if unable to consume tobacco on time, 51% worried excessively, and 41-48% experienced fear or "butterfly" sensations in the abdomen. Depression symptoms included little interest in activities (39%), excessive sleep (44%), poor appetite (45%), feelings of failure (43%), thoughts of being better off dead (44%), difficulty concentrating (46%), and hopelessness (44%), though 41-42% were able to feel cheerful or laugh occasionally. Statistical analysis showed no significant differences in anxiety or depression levels across different age groups of tobacco-consuming women at the 0.01 level. Conclusion and Recommendations: The result of the study clearly shows that the women in the selected area were facing various health issues and that are physical and social and psychological. As data collected from all the samples, it is been found that the most of the samples were from middle class background with secondary education, friends, neighbors are the influencer for tobacco use and stress is the other reason. They are consuming tobacco as soon as they wake up in morning, at 4-5 times a day, many of the samples had diagnosed with one or another comorbidity and haven't taken any medical advised for past 6months.